Marvelous acting
Junho and Won Jin Ah are both marvelous in this. I loved their storyline and their connection to each other from the past. The secondary story lines? Not so much. HATED her mother - she was a mess and seemed to be uncaring that she had a living daughter. It started to go south for me at about episode 13, when it appeared that I was not going to be happy about the ending. The writers turned it around, but it was rushed. The connection between Junho and Won Jin Ah was amazing, The looks they would give each other, the little smiles, the hand holding. She has a somewhat sexy deep voice, which I found fascinating as well.Was this review helpful to you?
Rain or Shine
Another successful K Drama .Good story , brilliant acting . Nothing is glossed over , it shows the plain reality of traumatic experiences and how to survive them in a harsh world where money and power often dictate . The past always catching up with one is a common theme in Korean drama . The likeable characters all impact of one another and manage to bring the best in one another through kindness and sheer determination to make things better for all. At the end they embrace the future positively and move forward through love , friendship and humour ! A great show . May require a box of tissues at hand !
Was this review helpful to you?
The thing that really stands out with Just Between Lovers is that it really highlights life in itself, there are ups and downs, no one is perfect and even if you feel like you've hit rock bottom, you probably still haven't reached your lowest point. Both the leads are troubled people that despite their shared tragedy, one remains optimistic and tries to live a better life while the other seems to fall behind and can never catch a break.
The chemistry between Gang Doo and Moon Soo is incredible so I really need to give a hats off to Junho and Jinah for really bringing such life and passion behind their characters. This is my first time seeing Junho apart from the idol shows and kpop scene and let me just say that I am extremely impressed with his acting. He really played his part of a troubled and rough-around-the-edges young man perfectly and I could feel it from every line. I was also very impressed with Jinah's acting and her own portrayal of the bright Moon Soo. There wasn't too much crying on her part (as I tend to get very annoyed with scenes like those as they are usually over done and unnecessary and more often then not makes the female lead look weak as instead of trying to face the problem she just wallows in self pity and cries), but not Moon Soo! Those scenes just showed raw emotion and made sense with what was happening in the scene.
This drama never felt like it was getting boring or that they were giving you filler scenes, it was always good quality content and it will leave you wanting more. I was getting major withdrawal symptoms when I finished the last episode and was honestly pondering the meaning of life for a while. Jokes aside I'm just going to come right out and say that I have never in my life sworn so much at a drama before. This drama will evict so so many emotions from you, both happy and sad, frustrating and heart-wrenching. I found myself yelling at my laptop screen and throwing pillows because that's what this drama does, it gives you a real story, a story that could happen any day , it gives you raw emotion and that's what you respond with, more raw emotion. I cried more times than I'd like to admit, keep in mind that this isn't a drama you watch just because "you're bored" this is a commitment. This isn't some light and fluffy drama you watch when you have nothing else better to do and you don't want to think too hard, this is the opposite, don't let yourself be consumed if you can't commit.
All in all I could actually go on for hours about the greatness of Just Between Lovers but I'm sure you all get the gist. Amazing, amazing,amazing, that's all I can say.
Was this review helpful to you?
It is pretty dark, explores the demons that people have especially after a stressful situation, it also lt open the vision about the poverty in Korea. In this drama, there are no Cheabols, no money, just the most normal people that you can find among all the dramas.
I loved it, is pretty strong not to cry in many scenes, Junho made a wonderful work to impersonate a person with so many problems, both physically and mentally that you can't love him.
Also the whole cast made a wonderful work, from the old grandma till each people that appeared here!
Absolutely worth the time spent by watching it!
Was this review helpful to you?
Sad series , well acted
Nice series , if a tad sad, so not one to watch if your down in dumps. Drags a tad in parts , but then it was as if they wrote 20 episodes and tried to push the last 4 into episode 16. Super acting from most leads. They left me hanging in the air about who owned the bones they found, that part of story should have been solved for the family concerned. It would have capped the end of it nicely .But worst of all....we had 14 eposides deciding what the death memorial was going to look like, visiting families getting beautiful emotional stories , shots of plans and maps of layouts and then OMG we were not shown the finished memorial. What the hell lads, did no one preview this ??? Where was the director for that ??
The romance story was really nice . I like these 2 leads, lovely chemistry .
I'd have personally drowned her mother in the bath...did she never consider that she had 2 daughters !!!
Was this review helpful to you?
I don't think there was good chemistry between the two main characters, whether it was because of the actors who didn't have good chemistry or it was because the director didn't give enough instructions, but I think they could convey the story better.
I won't rewatch it, same as all korean series except for one, I don't believe there is a value here to rewatch it. Its a story that needs to be told only once, in the second time I think my rating will be less attractive then now.
The OST wasn't good enough either I didn't have even one song I can listen to it over and over, the same as it was in Scarlet Heart.
Was this review helpful to you?
Was this review helpful to you?
Haunting
It’s been a month since I watched this drama and it still haunts me. The visuals, the music, the raw emotion... it just got under my skin and will definitely be one of those unforgettable dramas for me. Maybe being from the US and having lived through the 9/11 World Trade Center collapse and fallout it makes me sensitive to this subject matter. It was incredible, anyway.Be ready to go on an emotional rollercoaster. And I highly recommend finding the OST because there are some killer tracks.
That’s all I really wanted to say. Not sure if I hit 500 words yet. Oops, not yet.
Was this review helpful to you?
Great performances, well-crafted story, beautifully shot
I loved this. It easily made my top 10 k-dramas list.The story was clean and simple, with only one modest trope that I could find - and even that worked, in fact it was essential, to the overall story. The characters were real, human, and beautifully drawn - with the story giving each space to breathe. The story explored grief, guilt (including survivor guilt), PTSD, and found families.
The acting was very, very good - particularly from Lee Jun-ho (outstanding, actually, particularly as acting isn't his day job), Kang Han-na, Yoon Se-ah, and Kim Kang-hyun.
I'm slightly - just slightly - conflicted about the ending. Would it have been slightly better if what appeared to be the arc for one character followed what appeared to be its trajectory? Maybe. But overall a wonderful drama.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Imbalanced Romance Between the Heroic Kang Doo and the Immature, Cowardly Moon Soo
Kang Doo and Granny end up being the only two truly noble and likeable characters in this entire series with Ma Ri and Jung Yoo Jin being right behind them. The show would have been so much stronger and better if even Moon Soo had even half the character of Kang doo. In the end, we realize that she doesn’t even remotely deserve him.Kang Doo and Moon Soo are survivors of a horrific accident; a newly built shopping mall that collapses on them when they were teenagers. As the story unfolds, we find that Kang Doo is about as noble and heroic as a person can be. Yes, he’s got a temper, and for a while, he feels pathetic and unworthy. But not only does he rebound, he is always looking after people; looking after those he cares about; and even beyond that, he’s always THERE for them. That’s the mark of a truly noble person. Jun Ho Lee should’ve won every single acting award out there for giving us a harrowing and complex depiction of a Kang Doo who is always in pain, always struggling, always fighting, and always doing right by people. He mirrors the famous quote of Rocky Balboa of, “Life ain’t about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.” Does Kang Doo stumble and make poor decisions? Yes, but he always quickly sees that there is a better way. He’s a man who’s continuously tormented.
Moon Soo, unfortunately, is someone who finds it safer and easier to just stay within her little bubble world. One could argue that Kang Doo has had a much harder road in life, and yet Moon Soo lacks the courage and even the conviction to fight and be there for those who need it. Actress Jin Ah Won is almost a complete opposite from Jun Ho Lee. In fact, she’s easily the weakest actor of the ensemble. Her expressions are often stoic and bland. She looks like a 15-year-old and she gives us a Moon Soo who acts like it too. It’s nearly laughable the times that Kang Doo tries to hug her, and she recoils like an 8-year-old child who’s had a spider dropped down her shirt! It shows her level of immaturity.
What really angered me was when Moon Soo finds out about Kang Doo’s health condition. At this point, she’s not even talking to him at all. She’s ignoring him. He goes to her house to tell her about his problem. Without even opening the door, he faints. She then gets angry with him for not telling him! How exactly does THAT work?!? I was like, “Are you kidding me?! You were ignoring him and you blame HIM for that?!” That was my last straw with Moon Soo. From then on, I had no heart or sympathy for such a cold, cowardly character who is unable to see past her own pain. Throughout the series, Kang Doo is always there for her. And throughout the series, Moon Soo constantly comes up short because she can’t be there for him when he needs help, and she invariably and conveniently ignores and forgets all that Kang Doo has been through. She completely dismisses it and even his condition when she hasn’t the guts to deal with it.
I’ve been watching K-dramas for nearly 5 years now. I’ve seen so many good ones and a few bad ones. However, I can’t remember one where I’ve found the leading lady so unappealing.
I can’t even sympathize with Moon Soo when she tearfully asks her friend, “Why does Kang Doo have to go through this? Hasn’t he been through enough? Why is this happening to us?” Funny questions from a person who can’t even be with him when needed, and by someone who’s blatantly ignored him. How can there even be an “us” when you refuse to be a participant or even show up!
The characters of Granny and Kang Doo keep this series afloat. By the last episode, I nearly decided to forget the whole thing as I was so fed up with Moon Soo. I wouldn’t wish a “Moon Soo” on anyone. She’s about as supportive as a piece of used tissue.
Kang Doo and Granny make this series a “10” for me. Moon Soo makes it about a “3” or “4”. Not to mention that actress Jin Ah Won is about the worst kisser I’ve ever seen! Kissing her must be like kissing a dead fish. No heart. No feeling. It says a lot about Won’s comfort level and her ability to even act out a simple scene like that.
While the story is an intriguing one, this definitely isn’t a series I’d watch again. It deserved a much better actress than Jin Ah Won; someone seasoned and professional enough to really give us a likeable and intriguing character with a complexity to match Jun Ho Lee’s performance. The imbalance really hurt this series. I certainly won’t look to watch anything else by Jin Ah Won. She sticks out like a sore thumb in this series against far better performances by nearly everyone else who all overshadowed her.
Kang Doo’s sister is almost as bad. Not even a hug or word of support for a brother who’s dying. Was it the writer’s intention to give us such cold, unfeeling women in this show? If so, he succeeded! He gave us two mothers who aren’t even worthy of the title.
Kang Doo is a hero in every sense of the word for always doing right by others; for always looking out and caring for others. The true shame is how no one was able to do the same for him.
The series also ends way too conveniently with a "magical" and unlikely ending. The writer didn't have the guts to go down the road less traveled and realize that Moon Soo might have actually learned the most about herself and appreciated Kang Doo had he not survived. The ending was a real cop-out which undermined much of the premise of the series.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Boring endless loop of the same inane plot device
Dude, you know that annoying thing some dramas do where they make up some obscure random reason why two people can’t be together, but they overcome it in the end and hook up anyhow? This drama does that like 8 times. It’s so obnoxious. “You love me but I’m not good enough for you so I’ll run away”, “Omg you love me even though I’m trash, it’s fate!”, “except now I love you but you don’t love me cause it’s your turn to be not good enough”. For flying F sake.Apart from that constant rehash of the same inane plot hook, the drama was ok. The acting was good, the side characters were engaging, the architectural theme was interesting.
What mostly drove me crazy is that this drama suffered from bad writing. I get it, you need to fill 16 episodes but your story only has 8 episodes of content, but dang bro at least toss in some flipping variety here and there rather than repeat the same one theme over and over and over and over. Also how flipping lazy was the ending. I really want to rage about the ending but ima hold back cause it’s too dick for me to spoiler it. Let’s just say, it’s cliche beyond words and really poorly executed.
Overall, this drama was a huge disappointment to me. I got so pissed off halfway through the last episode that I turned on a phone game out of spite and only halfway paid attention. If it had been a book I would have thrown it across the room in disgust. The actors deserved better.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Highly recommend
This show was so good! I deducted half a point for rewatch value because it is SAD. The two leads had great chemistry. The plot was very interesting and engaging. But I cried more than once watching this. It is watching the trauma of these two peoples lives unfold and it hurts my heart to watch. Such a good show but I have to be in the right mindset to watch or I get to sad.Was this review helpful to you?
